The City and Bondi

Monday I ventured out into the huge, wonderful city of Sydney. Not on my own of course. I met up with Miles, a guy from my scuba course up in Cairns. We wandered round Sydney together, though it wasn't as romantic as it sounds, though it was close....

We took a stroll to Circular Quay, where the Opera House is and where the Princess Pacific (or Pacific Princess) was into port. It was HUGE! Really hit me (though didn't really hit me) just the scale of the size of the Concordia that managed to capsize off the coast of Italy. That captain was a pillock wasnt he? I mean did anyone watch the documentary about it? Where the boat was at 45' and he still refused to call for help and admit the emergency? Who'd drive (or sail) a boat that size that close to an island? Then carry on sailing into the sea without checking what that huge bump was from! But that's beside the point of this blog....

The Opera House itself was stunning, I never realised just how much detail their has gone into the roofing, with all 10 sails (I went to Pub quiz last night ) being covered in different tiles the same size as you'd get in B&Q! And with a backdrop of the Harbour bridge one side and the neighbouring suburbs and water the other, it looked magnificent on a beautifully overcast day in Sydney.

We then took a wander into the Royal Botanical Gardens which to be fair were beautiful. (and full of huge bats!) the thing I loved most about the Gardens was that all you could see in almost every direction was trees and flowers and open space...with skyscrapers and high rise buildings poking out at the back. It was kinda surreal, like a movie backdrop, as used in many great films such as Mary Poppins, BedKnobs and Broomsticks or Indiana Jones.
When we finished in the Gardens we walked back towards the Station as Miles was heading South, but being proper WestCountry boys we stopped off on the way (after passing te pathetic Occupy Sydney, which made Occupy Bristol look like the Nuremberg Rally) in a traditional Irish Pub. Now, in all the pubs in Oz, you can bet, in pretty much anything. As I was waiting for my Guinness (which was cheaper than in Dublin) I noticed that in the next race was a horse called 'Lucy's Rocket'. This set off a little lightbulb in my head, and using all the knowledge and wisdom my Dad has passed onto me about the world of betting, decided to bet on it as, just as I had been taught to varying success, the name was to do with someone very Close to me, completely ignoring the fact the horse had the worst odds.
Well I say horse, it turned out to be horse and cart. And it was actually the most pointless race, as much like Monaco you couldn't actually pass anyone cos the course was too small! Luckily being horse(and cart) number 1, Lucy won. And so did I. $10 (I was never a bold betting man).

Monday night consisted of playing Table Tennis/Ping Pong/Wiff Waff/Plick Plock (if Boris can make up names so can I) with Nicky in her garage. That's about it.

Tuesday with the sun promising to be out until at least 1pm, Nicky and I headed out to the famous Bondi Beach. Now, can anyone tell me why Bondi Beach is so famous? Cos there is no obvious reason I can think of after visiting. It's just like any beach in Devon or Cornwall, but with more people, less surf and warmer sun and sea. Really nothing special. Don't get me wrong it's a nice beach, just didn't get the sense of why it was so famous. The only thing I know it's famous for is Bondi Rescue. Which brings me neatly onto me being interviewed for Bondi Rescue.
Me and Nicky saw the camera crew arrive and wondered if it was actually Bondi Rescue being filmed. We then proceeded to see the lifeguard take down the dangerous currents sign, stick something on, then put it back up. As any good lifeguard will tell you, he then followed procedure by promptly walking up to the nearest hot girls and chatted them up. All of this being filmed.
The girls then in turn (and as it turned out, prompted) walked up to the sign and back, and then received $20. Being nosey, I wandered to the sign to see 'The first 5 people to read this and go up to the lifeguard receives $20'.
I thought great, easy money! So, after being Goaded (I think that's right, mum?) into it by Nicky, I went up to the lifeguard. As it turns out, it was Bondi Rescue, and the sticker was a 'bit' as we say in the industry, to attract people's attention to the sign. I was then rewarded for my nosiness (and part greediness) with $20 and a short interview, about why I was there, what had happened, blah blah, that's not overly important. The director took my name and email address, so hopefully will be told if/when it makes it onto tv!

Tuesday night me and Nicky went out for a meal and Trivia (which the Aussies call a pub quiz - what is it with our descendants and ruining our perfect language...) with her Boss and husband, who actually hails from Wimbledon. The meal was nice, going for a Thai in literally someone's kitchen opened onto the high street. As the law when going for a Thai with the boys, I smashed out a Green Curry, which was really good.
We then proceeded to the Excelsior pub, which I can only describe as what the Barrel will be in a few years time. It
Was a complete dive, falling apart. Julian Clary's Australian lover was our quiz master for the evening, though unfortunately Julian's level of humour was by passed on...though his penchant (look at me using all these big words, mum will be proud) for smut was...which crossed with his bad humour actually made home quite funny.
Anyway, the quiz was actually quite hard, and out of 6 rounds, I didn't actually know many questions, the only answers that I really contributed to included what 3 teams play in Engalnd in Claret and Blue, and what is Automatic, Systematic, Hydromatic (all together now....)
Needless to say, we didn't win, but thanks to a storming last 2 rounds we avoided last place! Now I can see what Derek McInnes tactics are aiming for....
(that's one for Grandad, Dad, Trevor and Kieron, if he's reading this)

Not really sure What else to do in Sydney, apparently I've pretty much exhausted it...off to Thailand on Thursday though! Woop! And only 4 more days til I see Lucy :) I'm sorry if you think that's lame (which It is) but I can't wait!